Castles you can only reach on foot have a particular attraction in
today's car dependant world. And castles on islands also have have a special
character. The mighty tower house of Threave Castle is doubly attractive. It is
located on an island in the River Dee, a couple of miles west of
Castle Douglas, and to get from the
car park to the ferry you need to walk half a mile or so along good farmland
paths. The castle comes with the added bonus of welcoming, enthusiastic and
knowledgable custodians who double as ferrymen and who help add depth and
atmosphere to your visit. Intending visitors should note that Threave Castle is
only open from April to September.

From the East

Seen Across the
Island

Return
View Showing 1640s Defences

From the Path
to the Ferry

Castle and
Artillery Defences

Original Castle Harbour

The name Threave probably comes from the Old Welsh word Tref
meaning "Homestead". This suggests settlement on the island at least as far
back as the 500s, before the Old Welsh speaking residents of
Galloway were
displace by Gaels.

It is thought that Fergus, Lord of Galloway built a castle on
Threave Island some time after 1000. Evidence is limited, but it is likely that
this first Threave Castle was attacked and destroyed in 1308 by
Edward Bruce, brother of
King Robert I, after
his defeat of the Gallovidians on the banks of the River Dee.

In 1369 Archibald, 3rd Earl of
Douglas, succeeded to the Lordship of Galloway. He is better known to
popular history by the name given to him by his English enemies:
"Archibald the Grim". Threave Castle was built by
Archibald in the 1370s to help secure his hold on
Galloway and to
resist incursions by the English.

The Lower Floors

The Hall
and Upper Levels

Outer Wall from the
Keep

Historic Scotland Ferry

Castle from Ferry Landing

The impression you get today of Threave Castle is very misleading.
When the castle was built the water level in the River Dee was rather higher,
and Threave Island was only about a third of the size you see today.

It is also wrong to think of the castle as an isolated building. As
the photo of a Historic Scotland information board below shows, when built it
would have been the most secure and easily defended part of a village covering
much of the the island. The large buildings close to the tower house would have
been a hall and guests' lodgings complete with chapel.

Threave Castle is unusual in the care taken to ensure it could be
defended against a determined attack by a large force. Most of the floors are
typical of those usually found in tower houses: a vertical stack made up of
ground floor storage cellar and pit prison; mezzanine kitchen and reception
room; first floor hall; and second floor private apartments.

But what makes Threave unique is its third floor, a room designed
to house the garrison in times of siege. This was provided with a doorway
through which weapons and supplies could be winched up from ground level, and
nine windows for defensive fire. Immediately above it were the battlements,
which would have been equipped with overhanging timber hoardings on three sides
and an overhanging stone machicolation on the fourth, from which various
unpleasantness could be dropped on any attackers reaching the walls.

In the 1440s the 8th Earl of Douglas came increasingly into
conflict with King James
II following the execution of the 6th Earl and his younger brother by
James. The King was a
keen enthusiast for the latest continental artillery, so in 1447 the Earl of
Douglas embarked on a major upgrade of the defences at Threave Castle.

This involved demolishing most of the buildings on the island other
than the tower house itself. Much of the stone was reused to build a
sophisticated artillery defence, a lower wall around the tower designed
specifically to withstand artillery and allow the defenders' guns to cover the
now-cleared island. Outside the artillery defence was a moat flooded by the
Dee. One of the three circular towers of this defence still stands, as does
much of the wall that linked them.

The part-funding of the work at Threave Castle by King Henry VI of
England went down badly with James II, and the Earl of
Douglas was murdered by James himself at
Stirling Castle on 21
February 1452. The 9th Earl of Douglas, James, continued to resist the will of
the King and in 1455 King
James II decided to completely destroy this branch of the Douglas family. A
three month siege of Threave Castle followed, which required the attendance of
James. and most of his
artillery. Parts of the artillery defence were damaged, but the final surrender
of the castle owed more to bribery than to military defeat.

The castle moved into Crown ownership, and out of the mainstream of
Scottish history. In 1526 it was passed to the Maxwell family, whose main home
lay to the east at Caerlaverock Castle.

In 1640 the Maxwells' support of
Charles I led to Threave
being besieged by Covenanters (see our
Historical Timeline). After
holding out for 13 weeks the defenders surrendered with honour after
intervention by Charles I himself. The still visible grassy embankment forming
an outer ring around the castle was added to the defences at this time.

Threave Castle was slighted after its surrender in 1640, and apart
from a brief period housing French Napoleonic prisoners of war, it was never
again inhabited. In 1913 the owner, Edward Gordon, passed the castle into State
care. Today it is cared for by Historic Scotland.